Rewind: LSU 5, South Carolina 2
Jared Poche allowed one run in seven innings and Cole Freeman and Zach Watson had two-run hits as LSU defeated South Carolina 5-2 in a Southeastern Conference game at The Box on Saturday night.
HOW THEY SCORED
South Carolina fourth inning – Jonah Bride doubled and Riley Hogan walked. Bride advanced to third and Hogan moved to second on a passed ball by Michael Papierski. After TJ Hopkins grounded out to the pitcher, Ross Grosvenor was intentionally walked. After Hunter Taylor struck out, Bride scored when Madison Stokes walked. SOUTH CAROLINA 1, LSU 0
LSU fifth inning – Papierski walked and Watson singled. Papierski was forced at third base on a bunt by Kramer Robertson. Watson and Robertson scored on Freeman’s triple. Freeman scored on a sacrifice fly to the centerfielder by Antoine Duplantis. LSU 3, SOUTH CAROLINA 1
LSU sixth inning – Nick Coomes walked and Josh Smith was hit by a pitch. Coomes went to third base and Smith advanced to second base on a ground out to the second baseman by Jordan Romero. After Papierski struck out, Coomes and Smith scored on a single by Watson. LSU 5, SOUTH CAROLINA 1
South Carolina eighth inning – Bride was hit by a pitch. Bride stole second as Hogan struck out. Bride scored on a single by Hopkins. LSU 5, SOUTH CAROLINA 2
KEY STRETCH OF GAME
LSU was 0-for-its-last-13 with runners in scoring position when Freeman came to the plate with runners at first and second and two out in the fifth inning. Freeman lined an outside fastball down the rightfield line for a two-run triple. Moments later, Freeman scored on a sacrifice fly by Duplantis and the Tigers had a 3-1 lead.
KEY TEAM STATISTICS
LSU outhit South Carolina 7-5. There were just two extra base hits in the game – one for each team. . .Neither team committed an error. . .The Gamecocks stranded ten runners – six in scoring position. South Carolina was 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. . .Tigers pitchers walked seven and struck out five.
INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS
LSU
Zach Watson: 2-for-3, 2 RBIs, 1 run scored
Cole Freeman: 2-for-4, 2 RBIs, 1 run scored, 1 triple
Jared Poche: 7 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run, 6 walks, 3 strikeouts
SOUTH CAROLINA
Jonah Bride: 2-for-3, 2 runs scored, 1 double
Adam Hill: 6 innings, 6 hits, 5 runs, 5 earned runs, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
LSU’S PLAYER OF THE GAME
Poche delivered just the type of outing the Tigers needed. He limited South Carolina to one run and three hits over seven innings. Poche walked a career-high six batters, one intentional, and struck out three. The Gamecocks left the bases loaded twice against Poche. Carlos Cortes struck out to end the third and Jacob Olson hit into a force play for the third out in the fourth. Outside of those two innings, South Carolina had two base runners off Poche. The victory was the eighth of the season of the 35th of Poche’s career. Only two LSU pitchers have more career victories than Poche – Scott Schultz with 38 and Lane Mestepey with 36.
Poche’s comments: The strike zone was a little small, but that’s baseball. I got frustrated a little bit. I have to be better than that. I have to execute a little better. I thought this was one of our better team wins. The defense played its tails off and we got some clutch hitting.”
NOTES
Robertson was the leadoff batter. He was followed in the lineup by Freeman and Duplantis. Romero was the designated hitter. He went 1-for-3. . .Papierski went 0-for-2 and had his five-game hitting streak end. . .Five LSU starters had hits – Freeman, Watson, Coomes, Duplantis and Romero. . .Greg Deichmann went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. . .Duplantis stole two bases giving him 14 for the season – one more than his total in 2016. . .Zack Hess allowed a run in the eighth inning. He struck out Hunter Taylor with a runner in scoring position and two out. . .Hunter Newman registered his seventh save of the season. With the tying run at the plate in the ninth, Newman got Cortes to hit into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play. . .Coomes felt his shoulder pop out when he made a diving stop Bride’s ground ball in the fifth. LSU trainer Cory Couture popped the shoulder back in place and Coomes remained in the game. . .LSU is 31-16 overall, 14-9 in the SEC. The Tigers are tied for second place with Arkansas and Auburn in the Western Division – 1½ games behind Mississippi State. . .South Carolina is 27-18 overall, 11-12 in the SEC. The Gamecocks are in fourth place in the Eastern Division – four games behind Florida and Kentucky. . .The paid attendance was 10,968. The actual crowd was a little more than 7,000. . .Eric Walker will be the starting pitcher against South Carolina on Sunday.
FROM THE LOCKERROOM
Coach Paul Mainieri’s comments: “Cole Freeman stepped up like a senior leader is supposed to do. We hadn’t had a big hit in a game and a half. Then, Freeman the ball down the rightfield line and brought home two runs. He really was responsible for three runs as he got to third on the hit and scored on a sacrifice fly. Once we got that hit, you could feel everybody in the dugout exhale. Then, Zach Watson gets a huge hit with two out the next inning. I hope this carries over to tomorrow.”
UP NEXT
LSU will play host to South Carolina at The Box in the rubber game of the series Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. Central. The LSU-South Carolina game will be available on ESPN.
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